Monday, December 31, 2018

RIP - Pete Lovrich


Pete Lovrich, who pitched for the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, passed away on December 26, 2018 at age 76.


Lovrich was the second player from Arizona State University to make it to the major leagues. He was soon followed by Vern Fuller, Rick Monday, Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, and many others. (The Athletics really worked that school hard!)

Pete played for the A's class-C team in 1962, then made the jump to the majors in 1963, pitching in 20 games. Mysteriously, he was back in class-A ball in '64 and '65, then retired.

I was unable to find out any other details about him, but it seems likely arm injuries were the culprit, to have fallen that far, that fast.

Obituary
 

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

10-year vets playing for only one team


Earlier this year, I pondered the question of "Who played the longest, and with just one team?"

As far as I can tell, these are the 30 players who played for only one team, and for at least 10 seasons. (Also that their career intersected the 1960s. I'm not including Ted Williams, because only 1 of his 19 seasons was in the 1960s - 5% of his career.)


Seasons:
23 - Brooks Robinson
23 - Carl Yastrzemski
22 - Stan Musial
22 - Al Kaline
21 - Willie Stargell
19 - Ernie Banks
19 - Jim Palmer
18 - Roberto Clemente
18 - Mickey Mantle

18 - Ed Kranepool
17 - Johnny Bench
17 - Bob Gibson
17 - Bill Mazeroski
16 - Whitey Ford
16 - Vern Law
15 - Bill Freehan
15 - Mickey Stanley
15 - Tony Oliva

14 - Don Drysdale
14 - Jim Gilliam
13 - Bob Allison
13 - Gates Brown
13 - Jim Davenport
13 - Rico Petrocelli
12 - Dick Green
12 - Sandy Koufax
12 - Bobby Richardson 

11 - Gene Alley
11 - Mel Stottlemyre
10 - Steve Blass

The top half of the list is all Hall of Famers except for Ed Kranepool. (How did The Krane stick around so long?)  Mickey Stanley is another surprise.
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